A few days ago we reported on a $650,000 first person shooter simulator that was built by a TV show to create the ultimate FPS gaming experience. Now the UK-based The Gadget Show has posted the entire video feature on YouTube for all to see and, well, it's just what we hoped. It's awesome.
We won't spoil the entire feature for you; it's definitely worth watching the whole thing to see how this simulator was set up, combining a number of hardware and software products from a variety of companies, including the long awaited shooter Battlefield 3. But we do want to point out what we think are a couple of interesting features.
One is that the plastic toy gun used by the player in the simulator has an iPhone, of all things, attached to the top. The iPhone's touch screen is used by the gun to transmits its "shots" wirelessly (via an app) to the PC game. Pretty MacGyver-esque.
Another aspect is that the dome used to show the image of Battlefield 3 can't actually show the game in a full 360 degree projection; it's limited to just 180 degrees. So the team came up with a software solution that actually moves the screen image of the game around the dome when the player moves his line of sight around; he just sees the game rather than a blank wall.
Finally, former SAS soldier and now novelist "Andy McNab" (not his real name; he still keeps his real identity a secret) got a chance to try out the simulator. It's pretty cool to see how a real combat hardened soldier navigates his way through the Battlefield 3 simulator. We suspect that the real military is looking at this set up very closely.
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